The article identifies external (global, international) and internal (national, regional, local) factors determining the development of rural areas in Poland in the coming years and decades. These are political, economic, social and technological conditions. The key external factors are the instability of agri-food markets, climate change and robotization, while the internal factors are depopulation and deagrarization. The state of advancement of planning works in rural communes is also presented. On this basis, conclusions for regional and local planning are formulated. Among other things, it is postulated that there is an urgent need for a plan for the village related to settlement and environmental restructuring.